Just found out that Stan Lee didn't actually create most of the comics he's famous for, and it's bugging me

I was reading this book called Marvel Comics: The Untold Story last week and it says Stan Lee's real talent was more about marketing and editing, not writing or drawing. For example, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko did most of the actual creation for characters like Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. But Stan gets all the credit because he was the loudest guy in the room. So which side do you lean on - does Stan deserve the hero worship or were Kirby and Ditko the real geniuses all along?

2 comments

2 Comments

jessica1306d ago

That line about Stan being "the loudest guy in the room" really hits home for me lol. I went through this exact same thing a few years ago when I started digging into old Marvel history, and it honestly made me feel kinda lied to. For me, the more I read about Kirby and Ditko's actual process, the more I realized Stan was basically the face while they did the heavy lifting. But here's the thing that changed my mind a bit - I think Stan's real skill was in selling those characters to the public and keeping the whole thing going. Like without his hype and editing, Kirby and Ditko's genius might have just stayed in some obscure comic that nobody remembers. So I lean more toward giving Kirby and Ditko credit for the actual creation, but I don't think Stan deserves to be totally trashed either.

laura_schmidt826d ago

Got into this same rabbit hole a couple years back. Pulled up old interviews and legal docs. Kirby was literally breaking down layouts panel by panel while Stan just wrote the dialogue balloons and captions over top. The whole "Stan Lee created Spider-Man" thing makes me cringe now knowing Ditko basically built that whole character from scratch. But yeah, Stan knew how to sell it. That part's real. He gave those books a personality that made kids like me actually want to buy them.